Albert, Texas Information
Albert, originally Martinsburg, is a ghost town 16 miles (25.7 km) southeast of Fredericksburg and 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the Blanco County line in southeastern Gillespie County, Texas, United States.[1] The town was a stop on the Fredericksburg-Blanco stage route[1] and in 1967 became a stop on the President's Ranch Trail.[2]
In late October 2007, the town was put up for sale on the auction website eBay.[3] Coordinates: 30°11′38.00″N 98°36′6.83″W / 30.19389°N 98.6018972°W
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Early history
The area was first settled by George Cauley, Ben White, Sr., and a man named Jacobs.[1] Around 1877, blacksmith Fritz Wilke, George Maenius, and John Petri moved from Fredericksburg seeking pasture for their cattle.[1] Wilke bought land from a man named Elmeier, who was robbed and murdered years later.[1]
The Martinsburg post office operated from 1877 to 1886.[1] In 1892, Martinsburg got a new post office and a new name, after Albert Luckenbach sold his store in Luckenbach, and arrived to register a new post office in town, under the name Albert.[1]
A school was established in 1891, and in 1897 postmaster Otto Schumann opened the town's first store. In 1900 a new school building was erected where Lyndon Baines Johnson was briefly enrolled.[1] A local Lutheran mission, the Lutheran Church of Stonewall, was established in 1902 which LBJ attended.[1]
Population decline
Albert had 50 residents in 1925, only 4 in 1964, and 25 in 1972.[1] By 1985 the store had been torn down, the school converted into a community club, and the dance hall a storage locker, though Albert still had 25 residents and two businesses.[1] The population would stay at 25 through 2000,[1] but by 2007, the town had been all but abandoned.
Since 2004
In 2004, Bobby Cave, at the time an insurance broker, bought Albert—more specifically, property on Ranch Road 1623 between Stonewall and Blanco[4]— for $216,000.[5] Cave then built a tavern (in a style area locals call an icehouse) on the site of the town's former general store; after investing nearly half a million dollars[5], in 2007 he put it up for sale on eBay[4] with a reserve price of $2.5 million.[3] In 2009 the town was carved up and again for sale, this time with an asking price of $883,000.[6] 12.09 acres of the town was purchased by the Easley family (Point Evans, LLC) from Austin, Texas, and Brandon Easley, was nominated by the family to be the town manager. [7] He has made several improvements to the ice house and surrounding property, and currently the dance hall is under renovation. Plans are to open it sometime during 2010.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Martin Donell Kohout: Albert, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ President's Ranch Trail from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ a b White, Elizabeth (2007-10-31). "Texas town for sale on eBay". Associated Press, via The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2007/10/31/texas_town_up_for_sale_on_ebay/.
- ^ a b Historic Texas Town for Sale Albert TX on eBay
- ^ a b Owner lists small Hill Country town for sale, a June 2007 article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- ^ Why buy a house when you can purchase a town?
- ^ http://propaccess.trueautomation.com/clientDB/Property.aspx?prop_id=21752
External links
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Categories: Ghost towns in Texas | Gillespie County, Texas | EBay listings
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